THE LEARNING NEEDS OF FIRST YEAR SURGICAL RESIDENTS IN THE INTENSIVE-CARE UNIT

BACKGROUND: Residents are more likely to learn from educational experi ences when properly prepared from the start of instruction and expecta tions are clear and consistent. The purpose of this study was to exami ne what first year residents need to know and be able to perform befor e starting their rotation in the intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: T he sample included surgical faculty, first through fifth year general surgery residents, and ICU nurses. A survey was developed that listed 110 knowledge and skill items felt to be possible prerequisite learnin g objectives. Respondents were asked to evaluate the required level of knowledge or skill on a 5-point Likert-type scale. RESULTS: Items wer e divided into knowledge or skill categories and then ranked in descen ding order by their mean ratings. Four knowledge and 10 skill items we re ranked highly by all 3 groups of respondents. Kruskall-Wallis analy ses found 58 items with statistically significant differences in mean ratings between groups of respondents. CONCLUSION: With this informati on a self assessment tool was developed to determine the level of perf ormance on these identified learning objectives. A course of instructi on can now be developed to assist residents in meeting these objective s before they assume patient care responsibilities in the ICU.